Pulse rifles in Destiny 2 are burst-firing weapons that have a lot of flexibility, falling somewhere between a scout rifle and an auto rifle. There are plenty to choose from, so here are our picks for the 10 best PVE pulse rifles in Destiny 2. This list isn’t in any particular order — these are all great weapons depending on your needs and preferences.
Best Destiny 2 PVE Pulse Rifles
1. Outbreak Perfected
Outbreak Perfected has been a powerful Destiny 2 Exotic weapon ever since its introduction way back in Season of Opulence. It’s a hard-hitting, accurate rifle that has the added benefit of debuffing your target with each hit. It’s even better with the catalyst, which allows its SIVA nanites to spread to other foes.
2. Disparity
Added in Season of the Seraph, Disparity is an aggressive frame Stasis pulse rifle with a lot going for it. With access to traits like Headstone, Desperado, and and Outlaw, it can chew through enemies — and it’s even better if you’re running a Stasis subclass so that it can benefit from the Font of Might mod.
3. Oversoul Edict
Oversoul Edict is a Rapid Fire frame Arc pulse rifle that drops from the Crota’s End raid. For PVE, Demolitionist is a clear winner in the third column, but the fourth column offers some choices. Voltshot is an excellent ad-clear perk while perks like Adrenaline Junkie and Sword Logic offer a timed damage bonus. High Ground is worth considering if you’ll be damaging targets from a higher ground.
4. BXR-55 Battler
Based on the battle rifle from Bungie’s Halo, the BXR-55 got a big boost back in Season of the Haunted, when it got access to traits like Incandescent. It’s also craftable now, meaning that it’s easier than even to get your desired roll. If you need a Solar pulse rifle, then BXR-55 is one of the best around.
5. Insidious
One of the Vow of the Disciple raid weapons, Insidious is probably the best Arc pulse rifle in Destiny 2 right now. You can run a grenade-focused build with Demolitionist/Adrenaline Junkie, or in higher-level content you can try something like Rapid Hit/One For All. You’ve got a lot of choices for perks with Insidious, and only a few of them are objectively bad.
6. Revision Zero
Players collected this Exotic pulse rifle during the Season of the Seraph. While it excels at PVP, the Revision Zero is capable of solving any PVE challenges you face due to its alt-fire mode that transforms this pulse rifle into a decent sniper rifle. Also, with the Vorpal trait to deal extra damage to vehicles, bosses, and Guardians, it will become a force to be reckoned with.
7. Psi Hermetic V
Psi Hermetic V is a High Impact Stasis pulse rifle that you can get as a random world drop or through engrams at Banshee. The PVE perk Headstone has a unique interaction when using the Stasis subclass alongside the Wild Card origin trait. For Stasis, players will need to equip the Whisper of Rending fragment, which allows primary weapons to do increased damage to Stasis Crystals and frozen targets. Wild Card drops small Telesto-like bolts upon getting final blows and then does moderate damage when these bolts explode. With Headstone, final blows spawn a Stasis crystal. Put together, this combination can form a Stasis crystal that self-detonates because of the mini Telesto-like bolts. It causes an AOE damage that can clear small waves of ads.
8. Graviton Lance
Out of all the pulse rifles in this list, the Graviton Lance may be the underdog of the bunch. It is also the oldest on the list, debuting during the Red War. With its intrinsic Black Hole trait, you can rip a hole in space-time to increase damage and recoil, with no falloff whatsoever. Not only that, every kill will both detonate and send tracking Void projectiles with the Cosmology trait. Farm those Exotic engrams to unlock the Graviton Lance.
9. Collective Obligation
One of the best weapon choices for Void builds is the Collective Obligation. It has the ability to debuff everything that dares to confront you. The intrinsic Void Leech trait will duplicate Void debuffs whenever it damages Weakened, Volatile, or Suppressed enemies. When the weapon is fully charged, you can change firing modes to deal damage using the same Void debuffs that the weapon leeched. The Umbral Sustenance lets you automatically reload whenever you gain Devour, a Void overshield, or become invisible.
10. No Time to Explain
No Time to Explain isn’t as fancy as Outbreak Perfected — it doesn’t attach nanites to enemies or anything like that. What it does do is output consistent damage thanks to its perks. Rewind Again gives you ammo on precision hits, and Time-Slip opens up a portal when you hit ten stacks of the former that effectively doubles your damage. Pretty neat, and it’s also a fun nod to one of the goofiest lines in Destiny history.
Update History
- October 2023: Removed Smite of Merain, Veles X. Added Psi Hermetic V, and Oversoul Edict.
- July 2023: Removed Ogma PR6, Syncopation-53, and Battle Scar. Added Revision Zero, Graviton Lance, and Collective Obligation.
- March 2023: Removed Chattering Bone, added Battle Scar
